THE couple behind a new tattoo studio in Darwen say they chose to launch their business in the town because they see it as a “place on the up”.

Tattooist Adam Pekr and studio manager Lucy Payne have opened Inkversion on Railway Road.

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Lucy, 25, said: “We chose Darwen for our business as we saw it as a town which is at the point of rising up. Over the last few years we have seen more and more independent businesses open, and we have friends who own local businesses which thrive.

“We wanted to be a part of this upcoming independent business community.

“There’s something about the people in Darwen, everyone supports each other.”

The pair aim to challenge stereotypes surrounding tattoos and want to encourage people to see tattooing as a work of art Lucy said: “I think it can often be seen as quite a male dominated industry.

“Often when people have tattoos people feel they can point and say ‘yes, you’re that kind of person’.

“The truth is a very high percentage of people have tattoos and they get them for all sorts of reasons and we want to challenge people’s preconceptions.

“One of the most interesting things is, I have created a tattoo studio but have no tattoos on me at all and I do not intend to.

“What I do love though is art and the idea of having it on your body.”

Tattoo artist Adam specialises in black and grey realism and has been a tattooist for five years.

Lucy said: “A tattoo is often is a symbol of your individuality and so everyone will go through quite a lengthy consultation process before they have anything put on their skin.

“Creating artwork takes time and we can even do things so that people can see exactly how it will look before it is applied.

She added: “We don’t want people to just pick a design off a wall, we want to create art.”